Our little family was lucky enough to spend last weekend up in Wyoming exploring Jackson Hole and Teton National Park. What a BEAUTIFUL place! I feel so blessed to live on such a diverse and beautiful earth. Our last road trip was down to Goblin Valley in southern Utah. This time we went the same distance north and had a completely different experience. Utah is definitely an amazing place to live if you want tons of diverse landscapes at your fingertips. This world is amazing.
I’m always surprised to hear our other friends with babies say they haven’t gone camping yet with their 1+ year old because we have been camping since Peter was just a few weeks old! Read more on camping with a newborn here.
Needless to say, we are big campers. We’d probably camp every weekend if we weren’t restricted by our job responsibilities. So camping with a baby is a must!
We came home exhausted and smelly, but had so much fun. Enjoy these pictures from our weekend or just scroll to the bottom for my tips on camping with a baby!
Day 1:
Woke up at 6 a.m. to finish packing the car and get ourselves ready. We were on the road as soon as Peter woke up and was fed with a clean diaper 🙂
Arrived in Jackson Hole around 11:30 and met up with my parents and younger brother (also camping up here). Visited a few shops, got ourselves a postcard, some stickers (for our car collection 😉 and a patch for my backpack (all while wearing our fashionable Covid masks… a requirement for Jackson Hole, which is probably good considering all the people!). Picnic lunch at the park with all the antlers.
After lunch we took my little brother and played disc golf at Teton Village (about 20 minutes from Jackson Hole). The course is super fun, going up the mountainside with beautiful forest. You may lose a disc or two, though!
For dinner my parents treated us to the Bar J Wranglers Chuckwagon Dinner and Concert. What a fun treat! The music is so fun. I’m not going to lie though. This was HARD with Peter. He hadn’t slept all day and dinner wasn’t until 7, which is normally his bedtime. We ended up rocking him to sleep in his car seat outside of the fun and listened to some of the concert from outside on the grass. We ended up leaving early when he woke up crying and wouldn’t go back to sleep. Other people had babies there and didn’t seem to have a problem, though. So I’d definitely try to get at least one nap in of you’re going to keep baby up late at this event.
Day 2:
Peter woke up at 5:30 at the first sign of the smallest bit of daylight and started jumping/crawling and squealing around the tent. #grumpymamabear
We took the trail around Jenny Lake (just a short walk from our campground) and then went up to the Hidden Falls Trail. This was definitely a very crowded trail and wasn’t the best for Covid. We didn’t think to bring our masks, but I’d definitely recommend them if you’re trying to be careful about exposure. It was very crowded at the falls. They were beautiful though! We were able to find a spot to eat lunch while Peter crawled around and explored ♥
After our hike we stopped to swim in Jenny Lake. The water is chilly, but so refreshing and so worth the beautiful views while you swim! I wouldn’t mind spending a whole day by the side of the lake, lounging in the sun and jumping in the water.
We had a relaxing evening around the campfire… hammocks, dutch oven dinner, a game of cards. I could seriously live every day like this ♥.
After spending just one weekend in the Tetons, I am ready to plan a week long trip in the area. The park is huge with SO MUCH to see and do. There are so many lakes and rivers, mountain views, swimming and cliff jumping spots. Ready for our next Wyoming-bound road trip 😉
Tips for Camping with a Baby
To hear more of my tips from last summer about camping with a newborn, specifically, check out my post on camping with a newborn!
But if your camping with an older baby/younger toddler, this here is for you!
I thought we had baby camping down after we successfully figured out newborn camping. It just gets easier from there, right?
Well… while you may not have to worry as much about some things, there’s definitely a whole new slew of stuff to figure out. So my first piece of advice?
Accept that everything won’t go perfectly. Then BREATHE… it will be okay 🙂
I know you want baby to take perfect naps and go to bed at bedtime and sleep as late as normal, but here’s the truth. You’re sleeping somewhere new and exciting. Odds are, baby is going to be excited, too! So take a deep breath and prepare as best you can! Even though you may have to miss or shorten some naps and you all may wake up a bit earlier than normal, take it as it comes and enjoy the time in nature with your little one ♥.
Invest in a comfortable baby carrier that you love.
Having a good baby carrier is SO important! I can’t imagine not having one. Not only do I use it while hiking, but I use mine at home while cleaning and sometimes during meal prep, too! On this camping trip we used Carter’s Tactical Baby Carrier, which he received at his “dadchelor party” 😉 ha! The carrier I usually use, however, is the Boppy ComfyFit Carrier. I love the stretchy fabric and it is even flexible enough that I can nurse while wearing it… yes, I breastfeed while hiking 😉
Bring items to help with baby’s sleep associations.
I think the best way to get baby to sleep while camping is to keep your bedtime routine as normal as possible. Do you always read a story before bed? Does your little one sleep with a stuffed animal? We brought our white noise machine, pacifiers, and a pack n’ play in the hopes that he would go down like normal in there. Here’s hoping you have better luck than we did 😉
Be flexible with your plans.
Having a baby has most likely taught you to be pretty flexible with your plans. Don’t forget to remember this when planning your camping trip!
If your pre-baby campouts consisted of early morning hikes and late-night star gazing, you might have to rearrange your plans a bit. We definitely get out the door later, take more breaks, and retire to bed earlier than we used to on campouts. But nothing beats the smiles and squeals we get when we take Bitty Boy camping. It’s definitely worth the sacrifices 😉
Last time we went to the Tetons (2 years ago), cliff jumping was NUMBER ONE on my list! I think having a baby has made a bit more wimpy 😉 but also, cliff jumping isn’t quite as easy when you’re watching an ambitious 1-year-old!
Bring PLENTY of spare outfits & PJs
Especially staying in Bear Country. You don’t want to send anyone to bed with food on the clothes or jammies. So make sure you bring plenty of extra shirts, pants, pajamas… for you and your little one 😉
Bring a hat + BACKUP for your little one’s head!
We have the cutest cap I found for just $5 at H&M. I thought it was too good to be true that Peter always did such a good job leaving it on when we were outside. Turns out I was true! He’s recently started pulling it off almost as soon as we put it on. With distractions, he still won’t leave it on for more than a few minutes :(. If your baby has fine hair like ours, try different kinds of hats or tying a bandanna on their head. Luckily we had an extra that Peter actually left on his head for the whole hike 😉 Plus, I think he looks pretty darn cute with it on!
